Countdown host Nick Hewer was left stunned when a rude word cropped up during the game show's letters round of Friday's episode on Channel 4. Lexicographer Susie Dent suggested the word 'a**wipe' telling Nick to 'cover his ears' before reading it out

Dent, laughing, told Hewer: 'Block your ears Nick, there is a US slang term for a fiendish or contemptable person, or toilet paper, and that's a**wipe.'

As the audience tittered in amusement over the word spelt out on the board by co-host Rachel Riley, Hewer could not disguise his surprise.